Monday, October 20, 2008

Propsition 8 - It is about equality

I truly believe in equal rights. Everyone should have equal right to pursue the life that they want, within reason obviously. We should never allow anyone to do anything that would blatantly infringe on the rights of another. For example, we don't allow people the right to have the life of a homicidal maniac (I know it is an extreme example) because it would infringe on other's rights to life. So we can see that the rights of the individual are not always that they can do whatever they want. Nor is it allowed that if one person has the right to do something all may have that right too. Take for instance, public restrooms, I can not enter a woman's restroom without infringing on a woman's right to privacy. Yet half of the world can, is that a violation of my rights? No, because allowing me to do that would take away another's rights. The question to be considered is, If we allow someone the right to do something will it give more rights to the people or take away more rights? We want to have as a society as many rights as possible provided to as many people as possible. That is how we will achieve equality. It will not be that every individual has the same rights as the next (i.e. blind people can not have a driver's license (not that I have anything against the blind, it is just an example)), but will be that we allow society the opportunity to pursue rights that are equal to everyone in the same condition (everyone who doesn't have a physical disability that would prevent them from driving has the same right to a driver's license, assuming they don't loose that right some other way). So proposition 8 is to protect people's rights. How? By defining marriage as only between a man and woman we will be protecting the right of everyone who do not wish to condone any other type of relationship. If Prop 8 fails than it will be forced upon school that they treat homosexual relationships as equal to tradition marriage, even if parents are opposed to it. Shouldn't parents have the right to say what their children are taught? Churches that do not wish to condone the practice of homosexual relationships could be labeled as bigots and loose their tax exempt status and might be force to shut down their community programs (like adoption agencies). Shouldn't churches have the right to believe and practice what they want? I am tolerant of people that choose to live a homosexual life style but I choose not to condone life. I can not support it nor choose to recognize it as equal. Would Prop 8 take away rights from homosexuals? Not really, in California, homosexual relationships are already given the same legal right as marriages through domestic partnerships. All Prop 8 does is protect the rights of people who want to choose how they believe and what they teach their children among other things. It protects a definition.

"A contract made in due form of law, by which a free man and a free woman reciprocally engage to live with each other during their joint lives, in the union which ought to exist between husband and wife." (1)"the social institution under which a man and woman establish their decision to live as husband and wife by legal commitments, religious ceremonies, etc." (2)

I will say it straight out, homosexual relationships are not equal to heterosexual ones (especially not marriage). They are physically different in that they do not have the ability to procreate and advance society. It has also be shown that children that are raised by a father and mother (a man and a woman) are significantly better off that not. There are always exceptions to the rules, but if we lived on exceptions alone than we would have no basis to order. So why should we say that they are equal when they are not?